Grant Wistrom's motor constantly ran hot on the playing field. He breathed fire. You always heard that about the Nebraska football legend. Â
He played every down as if it were his last. You heard that, too. But most people don't take the next step in the conversation and wonder how such intense competitors wind down after games. It can't be easy for everyone. For Wistrom, the coming-down process could be awful. He often would be physically ill from nerves or just sheer intensity. In a game's immediate aftermath, he could be edgy and unpleasant around even friends and family. It was sometimes miserable, he says.
About two years into an NFL career that lasted from 1998 to 2006, Wistrom discovered something that helped greatly.
Marijuana became a remedy.Â
"That was about the only thing that could level things back out for me," he says.Â
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Marijuana calmed his nerves and made his stomach feel better.Â
"It took the edge off mentally so I could be around my friends and family," the pass-rushing great says. "It also allowed me to go out and eat and replenish myself after a game. Because, after a game, when you're completely spent, you often don't feel like eating, but you definitely do need to eat to really start your recovery process for the next game."
The 43-year-old Wistrom, who in 2009 was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, was excited Saturday to discuss his new business venture — his new passion. Along with his wife, Melissa, the former Nebraska defensive end has entered into the medical marijuana business in Missouri, where in 2018 voters approved a medical cannabis amendment to the state constitution.Â
The Wistroms initially applied for what amounted to a vertically integrated company — which would've meant cultivating, manufacturing and dispensing their product all under one roof in their hometown of Springfield. They ultimately received licenses to manufacture and dispense, but not cultivate.
Bottom line, Wistrom is preparing for the business to be open for sales in May or June. His business title, Revival 98, has multiple levels of meaning. For one thing, he wore No. 98 in both college and the NFL. What's more, he wants his business' culture to have "an apothecary sort of feel," he says.
"It also applies to the revival of the plant," he adds. "It used to be readily available medicine. It used to be written up in pharmacology. But Revival 98 also applies to me. I have not been as excited about anything like this in a long time. Since my playing days, I've been looking for something to really sink my teeth into. Revival 98 aligns it all."
A total of 11 states have legalized use of recreational marijuana, and 33 have legalized medical marijuana. Although Nebraska isn't among them, supporters hope to place the medical marijuana issue before voters in the 2020 general election.
There'll be ample opposition, including from the governor. In addition, former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne, for whom Wistrom played and respects greatly, has said he believes it's a myth that marijuana is not addictive or dangerous. Osborne says he's particularly concerned about the possible effects marijuana use has on young people, citing research that indicates a negative impact on adolescent brain development.
Wistrom understands it's a hot-button topic in the minds of many. But he also has strong feelings about it, particularly as it pertains to recreational use of marijuana versus the same use of alcohol.
"If marijuana had the money behind it that alcohol does, this wouldn't be an issue," he says. "To say alcohol is a better alternative than marijuana is just a blatant lie. To my core, I 100% believe marijuana is a much safer alternative than alcohol. So, in that regard, I'm in full support of recreational marijuana use, but I also support wherever a state's at (legally)."Â
In other words, he respects the law. He also fully respects Osborne's concerns. Â
"Coach's big concern is the more marijuana becomes readily available, the more it can fall into the hands of minors," Wistrom says. "I 100% agree with him on that. This must be kept out of the hands of minors and adolescents. Part of the reason I became involved is because if it's going to be done in my town and my community, I want to be a person in control of it to make sure it doesn't get into my children's hands, or my friends' kids' hands."
Wistrom has been a gym owner. He's involved in real estate. He's flipped houses and managed rentals.
"A lot of that has just been paychecks to me," he says. "This (medical marijuana) is something that gets me excited. I want to grow this venture. I want my children to learn about it and see the value of it and maybe one day take it over themselves."
Some people never find a passion in their work life. Wistrom had football, and now this.Â
"I'm not ashamed of anything I'm doing," he says. "I'm fired up. I want it known I'm doing this. I'm proud of it.
"There's more to all this than just the typical getting high," he adds. "Granted, that is a benefit as well, and some people need that as part of the medicine. But for many people, it allows them to just function and get along. It just makes their life better."
He knows it all too well.